Last year I was extremely irritated with the mother of Little Johnny, the most violent, emotionally disturbed boy I have ever encountered.

He used to scream at me, curse at the class, intentionally hurt other children and he was a danger to me, the class and himself. Nothing could reach this boy. He was extremely intelligent and when he had control of his behavior, he was an academic superstar and great. However, those times grew fewer and fewer until he was failing all subjects because he would refuse to work, preferring to cause a non-stop disruption.

I don't believe he was being abused, but had a chemical imbalance and felt left out because Mom had remarried and he had a half brother that probably got a lot more attention.

He was also VERY large (I'm 5'6 and he came almost to my shoulder and weighed well over 100lbs of muscle, not fat) and was strong enough to throw chairs and turn over desks.

After he grabbed my arm, held on tight, then threw himself to the floor nearly wrenching my shoulder out the socket, I was advised by the administration to call the office the second he started going off.

At first they were reluctant, then after he tore a chunk out of another child's arm, they began to suspend him left and right.

His mother hated when he got suspended because it meant he was at home all day with her (she was a stay at home parent) so she would beg me not to tell the P when he acted up. She asked if it could be our secret and if instead of me calling the office when he was kicking my desk and screaming at me, if I could just send a note home.

His mother hated when he got suspended because it meant he was at home all day with her (she was a stay at home parent) so she would beg me not to tell the P when he acted up. She asked if it could be our secret and if instead of me calling the office when he was kicking my desk and screaming at me, if I could just send a note home.

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And try explaining to the P when the boy broke your arm or leg and it was supposed to be a "secret"?! hmy:

1. A daily, detailed list of every incident that happened each day. The request for the exact words spoken by every person involved was the real kicker!
2. Can we set up a plan so my child knows you like him? What are you going to do so my child knows you like him?
3. Can you make sure my child brushes their teeth well after lunch? They have an appointment at the dentist this afternoon. Said child was in the 6th grade! Was I supposed to look in the child's mouth? Yuck!!
4. We will be in another country for 6 weeks. Can you gather all of my child's work so she can complete it all before we leave? We don't want to be bothered with school work while on vacation. They asked on Thursday and were leaving on Sunday!!!!
5. Can you pack my child's book bag each day so he doesn't forget anything?
6. Could you ask the bus driver to come 10 minutes earlier? It would make it much easier for me to get to work on time.
Oh, I could go on, but I need to head to bed. Don't let people get you down!

I had a child in my room earlier this year with severe emotional disturbance. Luckily, she moved...but those first couple of months were horrendous. On top of the fact that the child spent 80% of her day running around the room terrorizing things/people, I had to fill out a daily log each half hour giving her a score of 0-2 for 6 different behavior areas as well as write comments about why she got a certain score. This was made on one of those three-copy sheets so that one could be sent home with mom. On top of that, mom wanted me to write in a "back and forth book" about the child's day. When I wrote a couple of sentences and said, "See checkout sheet for specific behaviors" she would ask me to literally rewrite the same information in the "back and forth book." I couldn't e-mail b/c she wanted it to be in this book and my planning period is first thing in the morning, so there was no way to write in it when I wasn't with students. Then it got to the point where she wanted a phone call at lunch and a phone call at the end of the day... the kicker was when the child supposedly wasn't bringing any of her work home and the mom literally asked me if I could drive it to their home so the child wouldn't have to be responsible for bringing it.

I also dodged a situation last summer when I was working for ESY. My boss had asked me if I was interested in tutoring a high school student with Down's Syndrome. She said even though he was in HS he'd be on about the same level as my kids and I could use my materials during the year. The pay was excellent and it was only a couple of hours a week, so I said yes. I e-mailed the parent to set up a schedule and I couldn't believe what she sent back! Several week long vacations, part time job, various camps, etc...the kid had no time for tutoring whatsoever! I asked our SLP about it since she worked with the family at the HS and she told me to get out of it if I could. Apparently even though the child was learning on a 2-3rd grade level, the parents insisted on having him in all AP classes at the high school. They also refused speech services because they didn't want him pulled out of academics to receive them. I can't imagine what working with them would have been like!

I've never had any issues with parents, but a coworker of mine did. It got so bad that the parent was not allowed to communicate at all with the teacher. That she could only contact the principal, who would then relay the message on to the teacher. How sad for the child.

A few weeks ago I had a parent call me at home at 10:30 at night. She said it was urgent she get in contact with another teacher on my team and wanted his number.

I am a bad sleeper, and once I wake up I am up! I was asleep, and the phone startled me. I told her it was 10:30 and I was asleep. Also added that I did not take school calls at home, plus I would not give out someone's personal phone number without their permission. She wasn't happy. Guess who was at school bright & early?

Her urgent problem was about a trip, one for which she was unprepared. Plus, if her children came to school more than a day or two a week they might know what's happening. I wanted to refer her to the sign I use for kids who want me drop everything and tend to their request. "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

She's a piece of work, that one. Second child I've had. Kids aren't bad, considering. Mom's even been banned from the building for past antics.

Last year, we had a student in the building who transferred from another school and had and IEP at that other school. The parents did not want their child to have an IEP at our school, but wanted her child to have all the services provided for a student with an IEP. They demanded that each teacher send home complete notes, worksheets, flashcards, whatever was being used in class for the child. They also demanded copies of all tests and quizzes prior to the test so child could study. They demanded daily updates of their child's progress, etc. They even demanded that child was removed from one teacher's class because they felt they did not have the academic qualifications to teach their child. (This teacher has a B.A. in their subject, and M.A. in their subject, a special ed certification, and an M.Ed.) They even threatened to sue a guidance counselor because she called the former school to get the child's records, specifically IEP records. That child has mysteriously disappeared this year!

I had a parent once ask me to prove her daughter was forming a gang with other girls in our team. I had several parents and students provide the proof for her. A few months later, the girl was moved from my school because we were unfair to her. At the new school, she was expelled for gang activity, that her sister (who was just out of DH for gang activity), helped her form.

I had a parent adamant about sitting in on one of my math lessons because she couldn't understand why her son wasn't doing well in class and figured I wasn't teaching it well enough. She ended up meeting with me and the principal and flat out told me that not only does she think I'm a bad teacher, but she thinks I've got a bad personality, too.

This is the same woman who, at the end of the year, gave me a hug, a card with $20, and thanked me for teaching her son.

A mother told me that if I want her daughter - who is failing because she does nothing all day long but cut class and disrespect teachers - to stay after school to make up work and get tutoring; then I would have to drive her home each time she stays after. I do NOT put students in my car and drive them anywhere unless it is an extreme case/emergency. The real kicker was when the mother said that if I am not willing to drive her daughter home, then I need to pass the daughter because she can't miss the 3:10 MTA bus for any reason.

Also, alot of my students need scribes and I have had many parents ask why can't I just write everything down for their child during class. Like I don't have to teach during class time.

I posted on here last week about this...
I had a mother who didn't like a grade I gave her son. I sent her a long email listing every assignment and the grade that the student received. She still wanted to meet with me. After talking with her on a Friday after school for over 40 minutes, her preschool son puked on my floor. He'd been sick with the flu all day and she still brought him to meet with me!